In Coaching Your Kids to be Leaders, Pat Williams takes the seven principles of leadership and applies them to the challenge of building young leaders. The essence of a leader is embodied in these seven important Vision, Communication, People Skills, Character, Competence, Boldness, Servanthood. Young people can be inspired and motivated to build them into their lives. This is an invaluable tool for those committed to building leadership skills in the children they care for.
Patrick Livingston Murphy Williams was an American sports executive, who served as senior vice president of the Orlando Magic. Williams began his career as a minor league baseball player, and later joined the front office of his team. In the late 1960s he moved into basketball, with his biggest achievements being the 1983 title of the Philadelphia 76'ers and being a partner in the creation of the Orlando Magic.
Sure am glad that I read this while we still have our children in the house! This was a super inspirational read to me and one that I believe any leader (which means parent, teacher, coach, pastor, etc) would benefit from. It was given to me by my brother-in-law Gary Byrd some years ago for which I am very grateful.
The first part of the book is to the subject of leadership itself - Why It is Needed, Leadership Training Starts in the Home, and How to Identify Young Leaders.
Part 2 of the book presents The Seven Keys to Effective Leadership by the author. Remember, he has written this book as geared towards helping those who help young people to become leaders. The seven steps listed are:
1. See a Vision 2. Be a Communicator 3. Build Good People Skills 4. Build Good Character 5. Build Competence 6. Be Bold! 7. Be a Servant
Three main reasons why I liked this book so much - 1) it is filled with interview after interview with people from all walks of life. These people in one way or another were influenced by the principle dissected in that chapter. 2) the author encouraged me as a reader to really look at how I am rearing my children and the young people around me concerning the topic of leadership. It challenged me as a leader to change some of the ways that I handle young people. 3) Throughout the book, the author points to Jesus Christ as the ultimate example of a leader.
This book gave a lot of insight on how to give your kids opportunities to develop leadership qualities. I loved the references to the Savior and how serving others should be the number one goal for any leader. But the book was a little disjointed and he created far too many "Lists for Success"
I've really enjoyed all of Pat Williams' books but this one wasn't my favorite. I had to persevere to finish it. There were some good points but overall it wasn't as great as Leadership Excellence or the book he wrote on Solomon's leadership.